The career of Tam\u00e1s Balogh, a 39-year-old, has seen a big leap in the last few years. In his twenties, the black-haired man was a member of the wrestling team of Marcali, a rural town in West Hungary, and after earning his law degree he worked as an employee at the local municipality.<\/p>\n
Later, he was hired by a public health agency in the capital Budapest, but then a few years ago he got a senior position at one of the country\u2019s most important government agencies. He became the head of the department in charge of major procurements at the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV).<\/p>\n
What makes Balogh remarkable, however, is not only his spectacular rise but also his network of personal relationships. He has ties to the same circle of former wrestlers whose political connections and state-linked business activities Direkt36 had exposed in a previous investigation.<\/a><\/p>\n Last year, we reported that IMG Solution, a company without a functioning website, has received a series of major public contracts. The company\u2019s majority owner is G\u00e1bor Szentgy\u00f6rgyi who is a long-time acquaintance of Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n Jr., one of the two brothers of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n. Szentgy\u00f6rgyi and Orb\u00e1n worked together in a sports association and took at least one foreign trip together. As another sign of their close relationship, last year they watched a football match together with Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> in the VIP booth of the stadium of the prime minister\u2019s favorite team.<\/p>\n Balogh, now in a senior position at NAV, is directly linked to both Szentgy\u00f6rgyi and Orb\u00e1n\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n Balogh and Szentgy\u00f6rgyi went to the same school in Marcali around the same time and wrestled in the same local sports club. Based on their social media posts, also their families have been in contact with each other in recent years.<\/p>\n Balogh and Orb\u00e1n Gy\u0151z\u0151 also know each other. They are friends on Facebook and appear in photos together. Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n also seems to have a close relationship with Balogh’s father, Vilmos Balogh, who is also a fellow wrestler and sports manager.<\/p>\n